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The W166 ML250 was purchased new in November 2013. ATE ceramic brake pads were fitted to front wheels at 468km. Rear ceramic pads were not available at this time.

The front pads have performed fabulously, smooth quite braking with next to no brake dust on the front wheels as can be seen on the photo below.

At approximately 38,500kms the brake pad wear warning is illuminated in the instrument cluster. Upon inspection it was found the rear brake pads were worn to minimum thickness and a little wear showing on the rear brake discs. The fronts on the other hand are still looking good with greater than 80% of brake pad material left and no wear on the discs.

Front Disc Rotors, no wear and pads at 80%+
Rear Discs and pads

Fitting new ATE Ceramic pads to the rear wheels. Electronic parking brake must be moving the service position before replacing pads.

We’ll be caring for your cars till close of business on Friday 20 December and reopening Monday 6 January 2014.

If you’re planning a holiday road trip, we recommend booking in now for a service and safety check. Plus we can test your air-conditioning to ensure you stay cool on the road this summer.

Road Trip Safety Tip
Planning (and then actually taking) a stop at least every 2 hours is recommended for safe driving. A stop means actually getting out of the car and walking around, and maybe having some light refreshments. Take a 15-minute break to keep the driver and the passengers fresh.

During the holiday periods there are 220 Driver Reviver stops set up around Australia, where you can get a cuppa and a biscuit and use the toilet facilities. Visit the Driver Reviver website to find the locations.

Whilst modern diesel CDI,TDI engines sure have lots of power and great fuel economy we are seeing a lot of intake system carbon buildup problems.
They have two anti-pollution measures that cause this problem. Firstly the oil vapor “blowby”, caused by the combustion pressure escaping past the rings and thus pressurizing the crankcase ( happens moreso in 18:1 plus high compression diesels ) is vented back into the inlet tract just before the turbo intake, to coat the innards of your inlet, intercooler, EGR / “throttle” flap and intake manifold. It gets burnt in the combustion process, which is the idea. Pain, but OK in itself.

Second anti-pollution measure is the recycling of exhaust gas. This is done to lower the combustion temps, and thus lower NOX emissions. Problem is this “sooty” exhaust mixes with the aforementioned oil, and makes a nice thick black sludge, which does indeed coat the EGR inlet, “throttle” flap, and gums up your inlet manifold.

The photos below show the problem in a 2008 Mercedes B180CDI that required engine removal to remove the inlet manifold.